1. Introduction

How does Rovio use ‘Angry Birds’ to employ Transmedia narratives across platforms?

Angry Birds is a puzzle based game franchise developed by the Finnish video game company Rovio. The series has long been praised for its success by using an amalgamation of addictive gameplay, low development costs and its quirky design style to develop a sustainable business venture. The booming popularity of the series has since harbored the production of new versions of Angry Birds across platforms, such as film, TV, gaming consoles and also the merchandise industry. Having influenced audiences on a global scale, Angry Birds has become one of the largest mobile app success the globe has witnessed so far. This essay will explore the ways in which Angry Birds has expanded from merely a single app based game to a global-spanning cross-platform franchise. The concepts of transmedia narratives – the systematic dispersion of media across multiple channels, as understood by Jenkins (2007) and narratology – examining the perceptions of space and time within narrative forms – will also be investigated. This will become an attempt to reveal how Angry Birds continues to expand its convoluted fictional world into different industries and remain part of peoples lives in both the real and digital world.

The basic narrative structure for the series is centered around the conflict between birds and pigs. The eggs of the birds are stolen by the pigs, so the now ‘Angry Birds’ begin to hunt them down by using a slingshot to catapult themselves at the pigs who are located in and around different structures. The further players get through each level, the more types of bird’s players get to use, each of which have special abilities. The aesthetics of the game has a consistent, unique design style, which is transferred across its several platforms, from iOS to Android, and books to films. This, along with the narrative structure, provides a catalyst for Transmedia storytelling, which “represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience” (Jenkins, H. 2007). This raises the question of whether Angry Birds employs the use of transmedia narratives in order to reach new markets and expand their ever-growing franchise, or whether the impacts of audiences entirely have the full control of the success of the company and brand. Perhaps the likes of technological determinism may have an effect on societal issues expressed throughout gameplay, and thus entertainment experiences, which could impact the way audiences may utilise and associate themselves with a text. The concept of cross media can be defined as “…communication or production where two or more media platforms are involved in an integrated way.” (Erdal, 2011). This, influenced by the rise of globalisation and technological advancements, has vastly impacted the convergence of new media technologies in the modern digital age.

2. Transmedia Narratives

Transmedia narratives are integral to the dispersion of cross-platform media as they enable the interlacing of stories within the complexity of a wider world. It is successfully used as a method to immerse audiences into a fictional domain where the sub-stories are effectively constructed in order to engage audiences and explore creativity in new ways. The gaming industry is a prime example where this is used, especially within the last decade where internet usage and entertainment has peaked in demand. Angry Birds was initially developed on iOS software, using a custom framework to allow for optimal creativity. Despite the first release of the game being constructed on relatively simple technology, the importance of visual design had made the game truly successful as it could appeal to its target audience, the majority being children but also adults. Perhaps it is due to the carefully constructed aesthetics that is responsible for the categorical successful for the franchise, leading to the company horizontally integrating their products across several media platforms and industries.

Between 2009 (the initial release date) till around 2014, the Angry Birds franchise had been a leading figure in the app gaming industry, however since then there has been a decline in its popularity, with the market providing similarly based games with the same narrative structure, such as “Siege Hero” and “Fragger Desert Strike”.  It is the arrival of these newer series which have forced Rovio to re-think the creative aspect of the Angry Bird’s franchise in a way that can entice and engage audiences in masses as they once did. Perhaps it is partly down to changes in consumer habits and audience consumption which has forced Rovio to revise its strategy, leading to different forms of entertainment via integrating into new markets. For example, Angry Birds Star Wars is available on the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 4. This could show how the using multiple, dispersed platforms from apps to games consoles is influenced by what audiences want and effectively entices them to explore new platforms. It could be argued that the success of a product is determined by the way audiences interact and use them, therefore the dispersed nature of Angry Birds on cross-platforms may lead to greater activity across the franchise, impacting Rovio’s ability to fund new projects to further widen their reach until the company becomes physically saturated and further extension strategies become irrelevant. 

According to Jenkins (2007), Transmedia stories are not based upon specific characters, but rather ‘complex fictional worlds’ which can sustain multiple interrelated characters and their stories. It could be argued that this is the foundations on which Angry Birds has been built upon, and has made the brand a global success. The idea that these worlds can harbor endless stories from fictional characters and expand into entirely new territories makes transmedia storytelling an integrated and harmonised entertainment experience for its users. It enables the developers to discover infinite opportunities and create new ideas for plots and themes. These extension strategies could push the brand to new levels, perhaps sparking an increase in activity in a specific industry, like films or TV – for instance, the Angry Birds Movie being released in May 2016. Jenkins also suggests that “this process of world-building encourages an encyclopedic impulse in both readers and writers”. It could be argued that in the case for Angry Birds, audience participation and support for the franchise is apparent, which in turn has generated vast profits for the company. This is true of the fan made creations that have been put online on various websites, such as “Angry Birds Fan Club” on Facebook and the “Angry Birds Fanon Wiki”. 

Angry Birds has a variety of spin off series, converging with other popular movie franchises, such as ‘Star Wars’, ‘Transformers’ and ‘Rio’. Due to the narrative structure of these films being fairly similar, the synergy between the two is relatively simple. Not only are the audience for the original Angry Birds games being engaged with exciting new media, those who know and enjoy the films may also buy into the franchise as a result. For Rovio, this builds on their brand reputation and generates more activity across their franchise, for instance, a higher sale in the merchandise of Angry Birds Star Wars plush toys, like “Chuck ‘Ham’ Solo” and “Obi-Wan Kaboomi”. It is, however, an impact of advancements in modern technology that allow audiences to be part of this fictional realm created by Rovio, perhaps this has an impact on how audiences adjust to society.

3. Technological Determinism

McLuhan (1962) suggests technological determinism describes how “media technology shapes how we as individuals in a society think, feel, act, and how our society operates as we move from one technological age to another”. The first installment of the Angry Birds game was released on iOS devices in 2009 on the app market. At the time, and still with relevance now, the mobile gaming industry was relatively new and in sync with the modern technological advancements of society. Globalisation, in this case, is a leading factor which determined the success for Rovio - this is when contemporary societies become interconnected through technological means. The societal cultures we see today revolve around the Internet and social media, therefore it is likely that the media content audiences engage with online with impact the views they have on society, as they have access to a global pool of shared ideals. When it comes to gaming cultures, the global availability of Angry Birds as a gaming app may have different impacts internationally. In some, it may be used as a political voice, the pigs being the government control stealing from the poor, who are personified as the birds. In other countries the game may simply used for entertainment purposes, to engage audiences into addictive routines in order to generate abnormal profits for Rovio. Perhaps in the future, the increase in virtual reality may influence the way in which audiences transport themselves into complex fictional worlds, which may have a deep impact on the way audiences see society depending on the games they play. Angry Birds may also be bought into these worlds and provide escapism for children or addictive entertainment for adults.